Donald Trump Indictment by a grand jury in New York Less than four months after the Trump Organization was found guilty of 17 counts of the crimes Criminal tax fraud It is another cloud for the real estate company, which legal experts said may have difficulty obtaining financing and closing deals.
Trump, perhaps more than any politician in US history, has recognized his wealth and fame as qualifications for the nation’s highest office. While that likely burnished his company’s reputation in the flash of his 2016 victory, Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and his mounting legal troubles since leaving office risk tarnishing the Trump Organization’s once-gilded brand.
Although Trump is the one facing charges, his company also played a role in the case that led to the investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. In 2017, executives of the Trump Organization made prior compensation Trump attorney Michael Cohen In exchange for the amount he paid adult star Stormy Daniels, allegedly in exchange for her silence about a sexual relationship with the former president before the 2016 election.
“They are doomed, I think. Who would want to do business with this organization or with Trump?” said Bennett Gershman, a law professor at Pace University and a former attorney general with the New York State Anti-Corruption Bureau.
Trump Organization companies rely on funding to build resorts, hotels, golf clubs and residences. In Gershman’s view, the Trump Organization A criminal conviction In the past year it has made the company “toxic” to many potential lenders and business partners. While the indictment of its former CEO may not directly add to those legal woes, it could tarnish the company’s reputation.
“The company is already toxic,” Gershman said. “Now, when the president of that company, the president of that company, is under indictment, it doesn’t help the company’s image.” “It seems to me that they’ve already had this big hit, and there really is a problem, and now Trump is making it worse.”
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment.
Congressional Republicans have launched a vehement defense of the former president, mocking the indictment as a politically motivated hit job.
“These are political figures, fighting the main political candidate,” Trump’s attorney, Alina Heba, told WABC News Radio Thursday. “They are all people trying to find a reason to remove Donald Trump as the future president of this country again.”
Of course, the subject of the indictment, like any person charged with a crime, is presumed innocent. However, Gershman said, “The fact that we know, legally speaking, that it’s just an accusation and not evidence — it doesn’t matter here.” “The indictment is the perception of wrongdoing, and the company boss’s perception of wrongdoing makes people anxious.”
According to Randy Zelin, a criminal defense attorney and professor at Cornell Law School, the biggest legal threat to the Trump Organization is The civil lawsuit It was filed in September by New York’s attorney general, who is seeking to prevent the company from doing business in the state.
That lawsuit “will really be the final nail in the coffin,” Zelin said. “People will, if they don’t already, start distancing themselves.”
The New York case, which is set to go to trial in October, accuses the Trump Organization, as well as Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump, of years-long efforts to commit fraud by Inflated property values. New York Attorney General Letitia James said the alleged fraud added “billions” to the value of Trump’s estate.
The company and the Trump family denied the allegations.
It’s hard to tell what financial impact, if any, her legal cases might have on the Trump Organization. As a private company, it is not required to publicly disclose its finances, and if it gets into trouble with US lenders, it can tap into funds from abroad.
The Daily Beast reported that after Deutsche Bank, a longtime lender to Trump, dropped him as a client in 2021, the Trump Organization took out a loan from Exxon Bank, an online-only lender. 4 billion Australian dollars an agreement The Trump Organization’s contract last year with Dar Al-Arkan, the Saudi real estate developer, appears to be moving forward, as this month the developer opened part of the project to sales.
As reported by The New York Times last yearThe Trump Organization may not be seeking new deals. “Instead of tackling new projects in recent years, the company has largely turned to its existing properties,” the paper said.
With reporting by Graham Keats and Amy Beach.
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